I’m different now and I can’t go back...
I’m really interested in the way that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is treating Injury and Trauma and Recovery and Rehabilitation and permanent Disability.
In most shows, if a character gets shot or stabbed or injured they’re back to 100% by the next episode. But some thing else is going on.
First Fitz drowned at the bottom of the ocean and his brain was deprived of oxygen. You can’t go through that and not expect permanent consequences. I thought Fitz’s struggle and his recovery were well portrayed. Through long slow practice, his hand coordination and speech difficulties have improved, but you can never expect for post-injury!Fitz to be the same person as season1!Fitz. He’s different. He’s more reckless and impulsive, more easily frustrated, and he still has trouble communicating his ideas at times. He’s left with permanent, life-long disabilities that force him to work harder. But, despite that, he’s forged himself into a new person (who is kind of a badass).
Now, I’m realizing, it’s not just Fitz. It’s ALL the characters. Coulson is missing a hand. He’s got a cool prosthetic, but still, that’s what it is: a prosthetic hand. And it will never feel right. Bobbi was tortured and shot and she’s still on the D.L. and wearing a knee brace and doing exercises for her physical therapy. Simmons is experiencing something that looks like PTSD. She has nightmares and sleeps with a weapon, she’s ultra sensitive to bright lights and loud noises, she’s easily exhausted and prone to break down emotionally.
But it goes further than that. Mack helps Fitz through his frustration and helps him find new ways to get back in the game. Because of his experience, Fitz is able to help Skye after she’s exposed to the Terrigen crystals and gets her Inhuman powers. He’s able to tell her, “You are not a monster, you are not broken, you are just different now.” Because she’s injured and can’t be the team ass-kicker right now, Bobbi is forced to explore her other skill sets by being a scientist and a friend and a confidant to Fitz. In return, Fitz gives Bobbi encouragement with her physical therapy by comparing it to his speech therapy. Bobbi gives Fitz advice on how best to be there as a support for Simmons.
This is coming close to being the strongest recurring theme in the whole run of the show. If I had to sum it up, I would say….
“I remember the day when everything changed. My life will never be the same again. I can’t go back to being the person I used to be. I’m different now. We can only go forward.”
The say that Agent May was never quite the same after that Day in Behrain…
They say that Agent Coulson was never quite the same after the Battle of New York…
They say that Agent Fitz was never quite he same after that Day at the Bottom of the Ocean…
They say that Agent Johnson was never quite the same after the Cave and the Terrigen crystals…
They say that Agent Simmons was never quite the same after the Accident with the Monolith…
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